Fraternising
by CeliaEquus
Summary: Hermione has a creepy experience at the Yule Ball. Disclaimer: *sing-song voice* I know who owns Harry Potter! And it isn't me! *stops singing* Happy now? Rated for situation.


"Fraternising"

"May I have this dance?"

Hermione turned, thinking that she couldn't _possibly_ have heard the person she thought she had heard. Maybe he was asking someone else to dance?

Nope. She saw Highmaster Igor Karkaroff standing before her, back straight and right hand held out in invitation. Silenced by shock, she nodded before she could think through her actions.

Her small hand was quite cold thanks to the drink she had just had. His skin was warm and smooth, not roughened by hard work; although it was possible that the cold weather – wherever Durmstrang was located – helped.

Why was she even thinking all of this? She should have been running away as fast as her high-heeled feet could take her.

But she was allowing herself to be taken to the dance floor for the next number. It was just a plain, uncomplicated waltz, ideal for talking.

"So…" she began, but then they started to move. Almost instantly they were dancing perfectly, despite his height and the fact that they had never even touched hands, let alone waist or shoulder.

"You were saying, Miss Granger?" he asked.

"Did you wish to speak to me?" she said. "Or…"

"This is just a dance," he said. She could have sworn that he pulled her closer, but told herself that she was just imagining it.

"And an opportunity to ask me about my relationship with Viktor."

He raised an eyebrow. "_Is_ there a relationship?"

"I'm not sure." She bit her lower lip, and missed his eyes following the movement. "He asked me to the ball, and I accepted. We haven't k-kissed or anything." She blushed furiously, and looked around for her date. He was talking with one of his fellow students, but glancing at Hermione and Karkaroff curiously from time to time. He was not the only one looking at them strangely.

"Viktor is a gentleman. You were aware of his fame before you met?"

"I heard of him for the first time when I went to the Quidditch World Cup with my friends in August."

"You do not follow Quidditch, Miss Granger?"

"Only at Hogwarts, and only because Harry's on the team," she said. He never took his eyes from her face, and she swallowed, her blush darkening. "What's it like to be the headmaster of Durmstrang? Is it a nice place?"

"You would not like it," he said. "You are too innocent, too pure."

"Impure, you mean."

His lips twitched. "That is not what I meant."

"I'm sure."

She felt a pain in her hand, and realised that he was gripping it tightly.

"You do not believe me?"

"I don't even know you," she said. His arm around her waist was like iron, and she suspected that if she tried to run he would break his wrist, intentionally or otherwise.

"We could change that, Miss…"

"All right if I cut in?"

Hermione had never felt so comforted to hear her Defence professor's voice.

"Hello, sir!" she said cheerfully. "Um…"

"You were wondering about the mark on your last assignment, weren't you?" Professor Moody asked. She nodded, and looked up at Karkaroff.

"You don't mind, do you? Sir?" she said. He squeezed her hand one last time, and then bowed away. Moody took Hermione into his arms, and as soon as Karkaroff's back was turned she slumped in relief.

"It's all right now, Miss Granger," he said. She nodded, tears in her eyes.

"I know," she said. "Thank you, sir. At least I'm safe with you."

"Did he take you by surprise?"

"Yes, sir." She drew in a shaky breath, and noticed Moody nod. She looked behind her, and saw Dumbledore nodding back. She gave her DADA teacher a small smile, and he half-smiled in return. "I couldn't help it. I just wasn't thinking."

"It's the usual thing," he said. "If someone asks you something when you're not expecting it, your first response is to tell the truth. That, Miss Granger, is something you have to train yourself not to do."

"He was creepy," she said, suddenly moving closer to him as they danced. "Merlin, professor, I can feel his eyes on me!"

"Don't go anywhere without one of your friends or Krum," he told her. "One of the reasons he was given the position of Highmaster at Durmstrang is because it's an all boys school. If he was headmaster of a school like Hogwarts, with young female students…"

Hermione's legs trembled. "Would he have done anything?"

"Never ask yourself something like that again, Miss Granger," he growled. "Just don't think about it, and remember what I'm always telling you."

"Constant vigilance," they said together. Hermione giggled, and the dance reached an end.

"Viktor's coming now," she said, grateful to see her date approaching. "Thank you again for rescuing me, Professor Moody."

"Just doing my job as a professor and former Auror," he said, nodding his head at her. He handed her over to Krum.

"You are all right, Hermione?" Viktor asked.

"I am now." She could feel Karkaroff still looking at her. "I… I think."

**

* * *

**

Kind of echoing back to an incident I encountered a few months ago, only it didn't involve dancing, and I'm 21 years old, not 15 like Hermione. And Karkaroff's younger than the man who started talking to me.

**It's all sexual abuse, dear ones! And it must be stopped. It's absolutely right that your first instinct is to be truthful – at least with most people – because you're caught off-guard. I was, and ended up telling the man my first name (fortunately not my last name as well), that I went to the gym in that area, and that I also went to the university up the road. This was also right near my old high school. Apparently he is a repeat 'offender', which is even worse. He just talks to you, and touches your shoulder or back. But, as the security guard I spoke to said, it is still sexual abuse. Hell, I had a nightmare inspired by the experience!**

**Anyway, I realise that I made Crouch a bit of a hero in this, as opposed to a villain, but what else could he do? It's the kind of thing Moody would have done, I reckon, rather than spoil an otherwise-pleasant evening by cursing Karkaroff. Though that would have been equally heroic.**

**If I did an actual romance between Hermione and Karkaroff – something I can't see happening anytime soon, if ever, unless I get a good enough idea – he certainly wouldn't be creepy, and she'd have to be of age. Unless, of course, it was a time-travel fic, and he was the same age as her, or thereabouts.**

**Review anyway, please! Kind of a Christmas story, since it's set during the Yule Ball.**


End file.
